


Straight as a Marrow

by hopepunk



Category: RWBY
Genre: M/M, whimsical slowburn with a dash of hurt/comfort bc jaune just attracts sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23178607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopepunk/pseuds/hopepunk
Summary: Jaune and Marrow need a lot of help figuring out that their "bromance" lost the "b" real quick.
Relationships: Marrow Amin/Jaune Arc
Comments: 28
Kudos: 149





	Straight as a Marrow

New Huntsmen were often paired with their more experienced peers on early missions, to get a feel for life in the field, outside of the protection of their old academy. Jaune got that.

But being supervised like a kid while supervising kids? Hard not to take that as coddling.

The familiar weight of his sword was replaced in his hand by the dainty STOP/GO sign he had been entrusted with to guide the little Huntsmen and Huntresses of tomorrow on their way to school.

 _Hope you can handle it_ , Harriet had said, when she threw the sign to Jaune, almost certainly just so she could watch him scramble to catch it. At least she hadn’t stuck around to rub it in, having left with Ruby on a much more exciting mission right after. Jaune couldn’t see how those two got along as well as they did.

Jaune couldn’t help envy them, as he closed his eyes and gave blank smiles to the next row of toddlers crossing the busy Mantle street. _I wonder if they’ve killed that Sabyr yet…_

The sudden clang of an elbow to his chest-plate brought him back to the exciting reality of Huntsman…ing. “You zoning out on me, Jim?”

Jaune started at the sound of...well, not his name, but close enough. “Me? Zoning out? Of course not! Why do you ask?”

Marrow just answered with a raised eyebrow and a small smile, before pointing to the crosswalk Jaune was overseeing. Which was thoroughly devoid of children. The gaggle of kids and their parents stood on the other side of the street, clearly wondering what, exactly, today’s Huntsman was doing, holding up traffic.

Jaune gave a sheepish wave of apology to the van driver he was obstructing, who did not return the favour. Time is food, and the people of Mantle had little to spare, so it was a good thing Marrow took Jaune by the arm and pulled him off the road. The awkwardness of the whole thing put an unmissable red glow on Jaune’s face.

“I’m sorry Mr Amin, but is he alright?” one of the parents, a mother of two if Jaune recalled, asked when they finally rejoined the group. She spared Jaune a frown before turning back to Marrow. “I’m not sure if he’s taking this seriously. What if a Grimm had come after us while he was-”

“Extremely unlikely, ma’am,” Marrow said, and his reassuring smile was honestly enough to cool Jaune’s embarrassment a bit. He could feel his blush receding. “Jim here is just a bit dazed, he was granted his full Huntsman License just a few hours ago! Isn’t that awesome?”

Marrow had turned his attention to the kids for that last part, and the ensuing cheers defused the tension. Marrow was an amazing fighter, but Jaune had to admit that General Ironwood wasn’t totally wrong to send him on fluffy PR missions. From what Jaune had seen, Marrow _oozed_ charm. Watching Marrow motion the group ahead, Jaune couldn’t help feel that Marrow could convince a pack of Beowolves to hold hands and walk in a single-file line. It’s definitely the eyes.

...what? Can’t a man compliment another man’s eyes? In his own internal monologue? What are you, a cop?

“You coming? Or are you gonna zombify again?” Marrow grinned back at Jaune once everyone was back in line and continuing the march to school.

 _Not all cops_ , Jaune thought before he could stop himself.

The two fell into rhythm, bringing up the rear of the group. Jaune knew that there was supposed to be a Huntsman at the front and another at the back, but Marrow didn’t seem to have a problem with them walking together, and he _was_ the Ace-Op after all.

Marrow glanced at him, the beginnings of a laugh dancing on his lips. “So, just between the two of us, was it _actually_ the thrill of the job that froze you up back there? Because for a second I thought I’d hit you with my Semblance somehow.”

Rubbing his neck, Jaune decided he could trust Marrow with a bit of honesty. “No, uh, I gotta chalk that one down to boredom. Sorry. Is that bad to say?”

Marrow tilted his head to the side and considered that. “No, but you probably still shouldn’t. There’s a lot of performance that goes into being a Huntsman, Jim, both for the people and for our teammates.”

Jaune frowned at that. He’d long since outgrown the need to perform in front of his team.

“...But hey, since it’s your first day,” Marrow perked up, lightly punching Jaune’s arm. “I won’t tell on you.”

“Thanks, I owe you one.” Jaune did want to look good in the mission report after all, even if he highly doubted that it would ever see the light of day. “Hope Clover doesn’t get any angry calls about me though. That wouldn’t be a good first impression.”

“What, from these guys?” Marrow chuckled, pointing a thumb at the thoroughly distracted parents ahead of them. “Oh hardly, the kids love you. I’ve been talking to the parents too, and let me tell you Jim, you can expect good feedback from them.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Jaune unconsciously straightened up his posture a bit, feeling the last of the residual redness leave his face as he strode on with newfound confidence.

His _brave Huntsman_ image didn’t last long though, after the sudden sensation of fingers running through his hair, as Marrow pushed a stray spike back into place.

Jaune suppressed a shiver as Marrow’s fingers barely grazed the back of his neck.

“It’s definitely the haircut.”

 _Hoo boy_. If Jaune was red before, now he was giving Ruby a run for her money.

Marrow didn’t look at him again before speeding up to return to his place at the head of the group. Jaune watched him go as he felt pretty much every emotion he had scrambling to take control.

_Okay. Brave Huntsman._

“Marrow!”

He looked back at Jaune.

Brothers help him, it really is the eyes.

_Be the brave Huntsman._

“It’s Jaune!”

* * *

Jaune remembered the days when killing an Ursa Major all on his own was an accomplishment his friends had talked about for days afterward. Now obviously it wasn’t much of an accomplishment compared to what the likes of Yang or Nora had been capable of at that age, but it was something dammit. Nowadays he could cut down six Ursai in quick succession and not get so much as a “Nice one Jaune!”

With a grunt and slash, he got another one. _Seven_ , not that anyone-

“Nice one Jaune!”

With a flip Marrow flew over Jaune’s head, catching his boomerang-gun-thing as it ricocheted off of the neck of a Sabyr, cleaving its head off. He landed in front of Jaune, flashing his perfect smile.

“Keep it up! This wave’s a big one!”

That it was. In their attempts to expand the launch site of Amity Tower, the Atlas specialists in charge of the project had stumbled upon a long-dormant Grimm nest inside an icy cave, buried in the snow for gods know how long. So far it had just been swarms of Solitas’s Ursai and Sabyrs, but Grimm didn’t congregate anywhere for nothing. So Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Marrow had been sent to clear out the den, okay the area for expansion, and find out what the Grimm had come there for.

Jaune watched Marrow as he sprinted back into the fray, his weapon already thrown back in the air, surrounding Marrow with its deadly orbit. He must have watched him for a bit too long, as a Sabyr pounce came way too close for comfort before the reliable appearance of Nora and her hammer descended upon it to bail Jaune out.

“Eyes on the prize Captain!” she teased, pulling Magnhild back into grenade launcher mode. Picking off a few more oncoming Grimm, she smirked over at Jaune. “Now _what_ could possibly be distracting you so much?”

 _Nora and her riddles_.

Jaune batted back two charging Sabyrs with his shield’s gravity pulse, putting them in the perfect position for Ren, zip-lining by, to slice through them both. Ren and Nora were accounted for, so Jaune naturally, logically, professionally, looked for Marrow again. His gaze found him just in time to see a truly magnificent triple-kill. Marrow froze two Sabyrs in place with his Semblance, while his boomerang decapitated an Ursa Major, leaving it to come crashing down on the unlucky cats.

There was an indescribable feeling that came with watching an amazing fighter at work. Watching Marrow carve through Grimm reminded him of the rush of watching Pyrrha destroy Team CRDL. Except he wasn’t sitting in an audience anymore, so he had no time to be spellbound.

The Grimm had been thinned out significantly. Marrow, Nora, and Ren all took a breather, switching their weapons to their ranged modes and gunning down the stragglers. As the last handful fell, Jaune let out a long-held sigh of relief, but the relief left his body almost immediately, replaced by a different feeling.

The feeling of being watched.

One look at Ren confirmed his suspicions. Ren’s shoulders tensed up and he whirled around to face the darkness further down the cave. Jaune could only make out a dark mass, covered in snow and ice. His senses had served him well, because right as he began to squint in its direction, it began to move.

Most of the snow fell away as a gargantuan body rose to its feet, shaped like a gorilla but the height of a small house. Ice grew outward from its body in spikes, adding an eerie frost to the creature as it turned to look at them. A Solitas Beringel. And a big one too.

Marrow’s voice lacked its usual conviction when he spoke. “Everybody! We need to...we need...”

 _A leader_.

The Beringel roared, a horrible, ancient sound of a long-slumbering Grimm now awakened. Banging its fists on the floor, filling the cave with the twinkle of shaking icicles on the ceiling, it burst into a lunge, gunning for the Huntsmen.

Jaune took a deep breath, and roared “Everybody scatter! Stay mobile! Ranged attacks!”

Ren and Nora, ever loyal teammates, immediately followed instructions and jumped in opposite directions. Marrow, who turned to look at Jaune in surprise, needed an encouraging nod to follow suit. Having looked after everyone else, Jaune then realised he needed to follow his own advice, and tumbled out of the way of the Beringel’s outstretched fist before it could crush him. 

The strategy was simple but effective. Their superior speed and agility meant that the Beringel had little chance to hit them as their long-range attacks wore it down. Jaune, still woefully gun-less, stuck to striking at the creature’s ankles with his sword’s two-handed mode whenever the chance arose, further reducing its mobility.

Nora was always fast, and with his Semblance Ren was virtually untouchable to the Grimm, but it was Marrow who took Jaune’s breath away. Every time Jaune looked for him, Marrow was somewhere else entirely, moving through the air like he belonged there, his weapon always appearing right when he needed it as if it had a mind of its own. As expected of an Ace-Op, it was Marrow’s hits that did the most damage, striking at the Beringel’s eyes and neck. He was an artist on the battlefield.

Jaune must have grown too complacent in the success of their approach, because, in keeping tabs on where each of his teammates was, he reacted too late when the Beringel, clearly sick of the speed of its other targets, zeroed in on him. Jaune raised his shield just in time to use his gravity dust to repel the strike. The force of the blow, even blocked, was enough to launch him violently across the cave, straight for a wall in a crash that was _definitely_ gonna hurt until-

“STAY!”

And stay he did. Jaune felt the momentum leave his flight all at once as he slowed to a stop mid-air. Alright, frozen in the air by the Aura of another man.

…fellas—

“Jaune!”

Flipping dramatically to Jaune’s rescue, Marrow caught him right as his Semblance wore off, picking Jaune from the air, bridal style, and sticking a harsh landing, skidding along the ice with a whole-ass chunk of Vale beef in his arms.

Panting heavily, Marrow managed to muster what he must have thought was an heroic smirk, but ended up being the grimace of a twunk carrying a beefier twunk. 

“You just dropping in? ...Geez you’re heavy.”

Marrow let Jaune drop the last few feet to the ground with a thud.

Face-down in the snow, Jaune groaned. “My hero.”

Taking Marrow’s offered hand, Jaune let himself be pulled to his feet.

“And for your information, it’s all muscle.”

“Yeah, I-” Marrow cleared his throat, raising his gaze up to Jaune’s face from...wherever it was before. “I’ve noticed.”

The howl of the Beringel snapped the two out of their distraction. They turned to face it right as a grenade struck it in the face, almost blasting its jaw off. Nora launched another before the creature could retaliate, striking its face once again.

“THEY WERE HAVING A MOMENT!”

The Beringel, completely disrespecting Jaune and Marrow’s moment, smashed at the cave floor in what looked like a tantrum. The team took advantage of not being actively attacked for five seconds to catch their breath. However, the cave quaking under the Beringel’s rage brought Jaune’s attention upward, to where the enormous ceiling icicles hung shaking. Realisation bloomed, and panic followed.

“Guys!” Jaune yelled desperately. “It’s going to bring the whole place down on us!”

Ren looked at the ceiling. “It’ll compromise this site!”

“And kill us!” Nora reminded him, as she fired upon the beast again.

Marrow rushed forward, and it was only when he did that Jaune realised he hadn’t let go of his hand until then.

“STAY!”

Jaune’s eyes widened as the Beringel miraculously stopped in its tracks, arms above its head ready to beat down again. The silence that followed didn’t last, however, as the creature’s immense size overwhelmed all the power that an exhausted Marrow could muster.

Another strike cracked the cave floor.

“No, no, no, _STAY!_ ”

This time the Beringel broke free even more quickly. Nora and Ren continued to fire on it, but the monster ignored the hits, no longer interested in self-preservation, and put all of its remaining strength into burying them alive.

“STAY! Stay! Stay...”

Terror overcame Jaune as Marrow, who had moved much too close to the monster, began to emit sparking, weak light, a soft light blue that flickered with each word. Jaune knew that using his Semblance on so huge a target would burn through Marrow’s Aura in seconds, and he was clearly running low.

The Beringel rose its fists again, narrowing what remained of its eyes on Marrow.

Moving faster than he’d moved in his life, Jaune sprinted across the cracked ice, slipping in his rush, but sliding along the ice just in time to catch Marrow, as he fell from having depleted his Aura. Jaune caught him from behind, arms around Marrow’s chest. The two fell into a sitting position right underneath the rapidly descending fists of the Beringel.

Marrow slumped where he sat between Jaune’s legs, laying against his chest. Clinging onto Marrow, literally for dear life, Jaune squeezed him hard as he bathed both of them in brilliant white light. Revitalised, Marrow pointed at the Beringel.

Jaune didn’t know if saying the word with him would help Marrow at all, but he did it nonetheless.

“ **STAY**.”

Mercifully, unbelievably, the two great fists obeyed, and there they stayed, inches above Jaune and Marrow’s heads.

Once the initial elation of their continued survival wore off, Jaune felt the strain of Marrow’s Semblance, even as he amplified them with his own formidable Aura. He felt as though he was holding back moving water, like a moment’s distraction, one drop falling, meant certain death.

“NORA, REN, _TIMBER!_ ”

Nora, dazed from the close call of Jaune nearly getting flattened, only hesitated for a second. “You got it!” Ren had already moved into action.

After the Geist, the Nuckelavee, the Leviathan, Jaune had found that Team JNR were lacking in ways to effectively kill large enemies, and so the team spent countless hours in the Atlas training room, practising new techniques to handle such opponents.

 _Timber_ was Jaune’s favourite.

Ren, using his new grappling hooks and making the absolute most of the Beringel’s complete immobilisation, swung around its head in quick, fly-by slashes that carve deep into the creature’s neck.

Nora activated Magnhild’s charger mode, amping herself up for her move. After a few good runs cutting into the Beringel’s throat, Ren called for Nora. 

Good timing, as Jaune and Marrow had seconds worth of Grimm-freezing left in them.

Boosted by her Semblance, Nora leapt above the creature and, with all of her remaining strength, smashed down on the Beringel’s head. With its neck tissue thinned, the head is torn off instantly.

It disappeared into shadow before it even hit the ground.

Suddenly, the running water was gone, and Jaune and Marrow breathe, collapsing in a heap, closing their eyes and mouths against the cloud of Grimm shadow. Jaune knew he doesn’t have to hold Marrow tightly, in his arms and between his legs anymore, but like, shut up.

“Thanks,” was all Marrow has the breath for.

“Any time,” Jaune said back, and means it.

The last of the Beringel’s corpse faded into smoke as Nora, grabbing Ren by the arm, began to make for the tunnel through which they came.

“You guys look like you need a breather, we’ll go tell the team they can move in.”

Jaune almost gave her a thumbs up, but his hands were on Marrow’s chest, and he found himself unwilling, or unable, to move them.

Marrow saved him the trouble, calling out a tired “Okay, thanks.”

As the two left, Jaune takes another whack at that sigh of relief. This time the feeling of safety persisted, although how much of that is the Grimm being defeated and how much is the comforting weight in his arms? Who’s to say. 

Moving independently of him, Jaune’s fingers brushed a stray hair out of Marrow’s face. “You okay?”

Marrow finally opened his eyes. _Those fucking eyes_. “Yeah, thanks to you, I live another day of being a person, not a stain on the floor.”

“Well, I like you that way.” Jaune was talking but his brain certainly wasn’t contributing to the effort.

Marrow didn’t seem to think anything of that. He simply exhaled deeply. “Y’know, next time we do this, you’ll need to take that armour off.”

Jaune’s heart just about stopped.

The twitch of Marrow’s lip seems to suggest that he noticed. “Solid metal isn’t ideal for, uh, hugs.” Completely contradicting himself, Marrow settled into Jaune’s chest and closed his eyes again. “That completely took it out of me, can we just stay here for a bit?”

“In this cold, dark cave?” Jaune caught himself when Marrow opened one eye to look at him. “...Yeah, okay.”

In echoes that were definitely much louder than they expected, Nora and Ren’s voices bounced back along the tunnel they left through and into the cave.

“Well, those two seem to work.”

“Jaune has always been good at making friends.”

_“Are you fucking kidding me.”_

* * *

Ruby Rose’s leadership voice was a powerful thing.

“We are here...to discuss sexuality.”

Her using it like that honestly felt like an abuse of her power.

“And Oscar is here because he likes to feel included.”

Oscar beamed at the other attendants of Ruby’s gathering from his place at her right hand. He, Team RWBY and Team JNR sat in a circle of couches in the common area of their Atlas dorms. Jaune couldn’t help but notice that he was the only one who looked any bit confused at Ruby’s vague summons. Everyone else had been patiently waiting for her to start talking.

And talk she did. “On this particular day, we are here to discuss one—Oscar, Pointing Stick please.” Oscar quickly handed her over the handle of his cane, which she extended, the tip an inch from the nose of—

“Jaune Arc!”

Ah, fuck.

“Me?”

Ruby took her seat, but kept the “Pointing Stick” threateningly poised. “You, buddy.”

Nora folded her arms. “This has been going on too long.”

“And it’s getting annoying,” Weiss put in.

Jaune knew it wouldn’t take much for him to start sweating. “Hey, you know what we haven’t talked about in a while? Salem! Why don’t we talk-”

Yang held up her hand. “Yeah, yeah, can’t be killed, we’re all gonna die, whatever. We’re here to talk about you and Marrow.”

There had to be a way out of this. Whose Semblance would cause the most havoc if he boosted them?

“You guys...haven’t been very subtle,” Blake said gently.

_Okay, I amp up Blake, what happens? Many Blakes. I can’t tell if that would help or not. It’d distract Yang at least._

Ren spoke as if on cue. “We just want you to be happy.”

_Maybe if I boost Ren just enough I’ll stop being perceptible to the human eye._

“So, why don’t you just talk to us about this?” Ruby smiled in that damn comforting way of hers. A dirty trick.

_Hey, if I juice Ruby’s Semblance up enough it might launch her into orbit, that’d buy me time…_

Jaune was twiddling his thumbs fast enough to break the sound barrier and refusing to look at anything else. Oscar looked around at the others.

“Is he...okay?”

Nora sighed. “He’s probably going through his options in his head. That’s his strategist face.”

_A dose of random misfortune is exactly what I need. Where’s that son of a bitch Qrow when you need him? Oh right, he’s off FUCKING that SHITHEAD Clover and NO ONE ELSE NOTICES-_

Weiss was rubbing her temple. “Jaune please, I had other things I wanted to do today.”

_No Semblances available. Quick, try denial._

“I...don’t know what you’re talking about.”

_Fuck._

Yang proceeded cautiously. “Look, it’s really not a big deal that you like guys, we really don’t—”

“I don’t like guys!” That defense might have sounded better if his voice hadn’t risen eight octaves when he said it.

“Jaune, you really do.” Nora spoke flatly, like she was just stating a fact. “Honestly, you’re worse than Ren with talking about how you feel.”

“Thanks,” Ren grumbled.

Jaune took a deep breath. “Seriously guys, I get that you’re trying to help, but you have the wrong idea. I—”

“A- _ha!_ ” Ruby abruptly whipped the Pointing Stick up and pointed it to thin air, holding it there for a moment. “...Weiss that’s your cue.”

Weiss, who had been examining her nails, looked up. “Oh. Sorry. Uhhh, Exhibit A.”

She projected a picture from her scroll into the empty space where Ruby had been pointing. It showed Jaune and Marrow, having their morning coffee together during briefing, as they had become accustomed to.

“Thank you.” Ruby cleared her throat, affecting a lower, more serious voice. “Now, friends, sisters, Weiss, as we can see in Exhibit A, Jaune and Marrow are really cute together, and-”

“Hey, come on!” Jaune protested. “We just get coffee together in the morning, we literally work together! That’s a friend thing!”

“Maybe so, Vomit Boy,” Yang allowed, rising to her feet. “But then how do you explain...THIS?”

Yang’s robotic finger pointed to Photograph-Jaune’s thigh, where, clear as day, Marrow’s hand was resting.

Ruby huffed. “Yang, you’re not respecting the Pointing Stick.”

Flushing, Jaune looked for an out. “That was probably just like, a friendly pat! That lasted about a second and then you stalkers took a picture! Out of context!”

“Maybe, maybe.” Ruby tapped her chin with her finger. “But then how do you explain-”

Nora jumped to her feet as her scroll too activated, projecting a picture. “EXHIBIT B!”

This time the picture was Jaune and Marrow holding hands in the streets of Mantle, with Jaune laughing at something and Marrow watching him fondly.

“Okay, how did you even _get_ that one?”

“Oh it was on FCBK,” Yang said. “One of those thirsty moms you two walk with posted that to this Sexy Huntsmen page. It’s honestly really weird and we reported it but in this particular instance it helps our case.”

“And look!” Nora continued with zeal, pointing to the space around Jaune and Marrow in the picture. “The kids are nowhere to be seen! This wasn’t part of your school run, this was just because you two like each other!”

Ruby pouted. “Again, we have a stick. For pointing. Called the Pointing Stick. It’s labelled.”

“I labelled it,” Oscar said with similar disappointment.

Jaune had no attention to spare for the stick. “That was just—I mean, we were just joking around—”

“Really?” Blake didn’t sound convinced. “Well, even if you think that, it doesn’t look like Marrow does.”

She pointed (ignoring Ruby and Oscar’s sighs) to Marrow’s extremely affectionate face, aimed at Jaune.

“I think it was real to him.”

 _Oh, that one just isn’t fair. Damn you, Belladonna_.

“I...” Jaune was out of excuses, meaning it was time for some honesty. “I’ve never even thought about guys that way.”

“Well, stop thinking about _all_ guys,” Ruby suggested, sheathing Oscar’s cane and tossing the handle back to him. “What about just Marrow? How do you feel about him?”

The group sat in silence as Jaune weighed that question in his head. _Okay, honest feelings time. Don’t be a Ren._

“He’s…fun?”

Yang nodded, with barely-restrained excitement. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Jaune said, finally allowing himself a smile. “I like going on missions with him, and getting coffee together. He gives great pointers about being a Huntsman, and he compliments me a lot.”

“What about...” Nora sounded uncharacteristically hesitant. “...his appearance? Do you ever think about that?”

The floodgates were open now. “Oh, I’m _so_ jealous of his hair, when I was growing mine out I could never get it to look like that, the bun is so cool. And, okay, we all know that cops are bad but he _really_ makes the uniform work. And don’t get me started on his eyes. Y’know, I don’t think Marrow even has a Semblance, I think when he just points those eyes at something, they can’t help but do whatever he—”

It was at that second that Jaune remembered that his friends were all listening to him ramble. Ruby, Oscar, and Nora were all borderline shaking with delight, Blake and Yang were exchanging knowing looks, and Weiss and Ren just smirked.

 _Oh shit_.

“Oh SHIT.” Jaune leapt to his feet, grabbing his hair. “I’M BI.”

“NORA, THAT’S YOUR CUE!” Ruby positively shrieked, but Nora was way ahead of her.

Pulling Magnhild off of her back, she fired upwards, producing a shower of blue, pink, and purple confetti. Jaune barely noticed, simply staring into the middle distance with a dazed smile on his face. Any tension in the room flooded out, and Jaune couldn’t help but laugh the weight off of his shoulders.

“I’m bi.” One more realisation. “Holy crap, I’m bi and _I like Marrow_.”

“Oh thank the gods,” Weiss sighed. “You got there in the end.”

“Of course he did!” Ruby was ecstatic. “And that means there’s only one thing left to do!” She snapped her fingers in Oscar’s direction, and he eagerly re-extended the Pointing Stick, aiming it at Jaune.

Jaune only had a moment to register Ruby and Oscar looking at him with massive grins before they declared “Now you just have to tell him!”

_Oh right. Anxiety._

“I have to what?”

* * *

“ _Stay._ ”

Gods, it was hot whenever Jaune said it with him.

Removing his hand from Marrow’s waist and breaking their Aura connection, Jaune drew his sword and stepped forward, towards the frozen Manticore. “I’ve got this one!”

Before he could take another step though, a well-aimed dart to the head destroyed the Grimm instantly. It dissipated into nothingness, and the dart fell into the snow.

“Sorry Banana-Bread. You need to be quick down here.”

Jaune poked at his hair self-consciously and Marrow felt a frown forming as Robyn Hill, strolling past them, picked up her dart and reloaded her bow. She threw a glance back at the idle pair.

“If you two are just gonna stand there cuddling, then why not leave the Grimm to us?” There was humour in her voice, but Marrow didn’t feel like he was in on the joke. Not a new feeling for him. “Or, if you feel like being useful, you can grab some bricks, _you_ can grab some cement, and maybe you two brave Huntsmen can fix the wall?”

It was hard to argue with her when the three of them stood in the space where a section of Mantle’s outer wall was _supposed_ to stand.

Marrow tried to maintain his professional affect. “We’ll stick with the Grimm for now. Ma’am.”

“Of course you will.” She sounded unimpressed. That’s fine. Disappointing Robyn Hill may as well be in the Ace-Op job description.

The people’s champion herself, and here she was, technically interfering with a military operation. The spike of Grimm following Jacques Schnee’s outrageous mass layoffs was almost immediate and Marrow and Jaune, being in the area, had been sent to the breach in the Mantle wall to reinforce security, only to find the Happy Huntresses had beaten them to the punch, already driving back a wave of monsters.

Marrow knew that the General wouldn’t want Hill pulling any of her vigilante moves, especially the night before the election. But he couldn’t deny that that four more Huntresses on hand was making eradication much smoother. Not that he and Jaune couldn't handle it. Speaking of whom—

"Marrow!"

Jaune pointed to a Manticore, flying high in the air, that the turrets had failed to catch, about to swoop into Mantle.

 _Shit_. If even one Grimm got into the city, the defense of the wall would grow disorganised as the Huntresses and Huntsmen scrambled to exterminate the successful invader before it killed anyone. If one got in, more would follow.

Jaune wasted no time. He raised his shield over his head. "Up!"

The two had worked together enough times for Marrow to know his cue. He sprinted towards Jaune, jumping onto the waiting shield. With a combination of gravity dust propulsion and those fine arms, Jaune launched Marrow straight upward. Despite the severity of the situation, Marrow couldn't deny the thrill of flying unsupported through the sky like this.

Despite being possibly the only Huntsman alive without a ranged weapon, Jaune's aim wasn't bad at all. Marrow hit the apex of his jump right above the stray Manticore, who changed course to attack him with a snarl.

Pointing downward, he gave the order. "Stay!"

The beast froze mid-air, jaws open wide. Marrow landed nearly on its back and took a breath. He had been using his Semblance liberally all night, but with Jaune sharing his seemingly infinite Aura, Marrow felt as good as new. He held the Manticore in place with little effort, pulling Fetch off his back and converting it to gun mode. While looking for the best place to aim, Marrow took a moment to appreciate the view of Mantle, twinkling with the warm glow that was nowhere to be found in sterile Atlas.

Deciding on his target, Marrow leaned over the Manticore's head and shoved the barrel of the gun down its open mouth.

"Down boy."

One quick shot and Marrow fell through a cloud of shadow toward Solitas. He threw Fetch, in boomerang mode, down ahead of him, and spread his arms and legs to slow his freefall. From what he could see of the beings still moving around down on the tundra, the attacking Grimm had been all but wiped out. The last Sabyr was rushing a familiar blond dot on the ground, but a slash through the mouth quickly stopped it in its tracks.

As the snow below rapidly became an incoming reality, Marrow held out his hand to catch Fetch as it came flying back to him. The weapon’s tug pulled Marrow sideways, out of the grip of terminal velocity, taking him down to the ground into a landing that more closely resembled a very long skid along the snow. Digging his heels into the slush in a vain attempt to slow down, he was relieved when he felt a strong hand grab him by the upper arm. The sudden anchor shifted his trajectory from a straight line to a ring around the source, and as he slid to a stop Marrow carved a circle in the snow with Jaune in the middle.

Finally stationary, Marrow fell dizzily forward into Jaune with a chuckle. “Nice catch.” Hopefully Jaune would just hold him for a second. He could use the stability. And biceps.

“Nice flanding,” Jaune answered, before suddenly retracting his arms from around Marrow, holding his hands awkwardly in front of him like he was playing a piano made of anxiety. “I was, uh, _gonna_ say ‘Nice fall’, but then I was gonna say ‘Nice landing’, and then- well, you know where we ended up.” He put his hands on his hips and stiffly bounced on the balls of his feet. “Flllllanding. You get it. _Coming Nora!_ ”

And with that, Jaune all but ran back towards the breach into Mantle. 

Marrow watched him go with a great deal of bewilderment. The last week had been...weird. The easy friendship he and Jaune had fallen into so effortlessly seemed to have evaporated, replaced with a dynamic marred with stiffness and discomfort. They got along fine during battle, but the second they didn’t have a mission to focus on, things immediately shifted into awkwardness. Jaune would talk to him only when necessary, and when he did it was in the bizarre, barely coherent way that brought “flanding” into his vocabulary. Something had changed.

A familiar shiver ran down Marrow’s spine, born not of the tundra’s chill but of personal experience. Jaune was a Huntsman, one who, despite his age, was working with General Ironwood and his inner circle. He was gonna go far.

Marrow had been friends with other Huntsmen and Huntresses who were _gonna go far_. And quite a few had equated _going far_ with _hanging around the right people._ Funny how often _the right people_ didn’t include Marrow.

But Jaune wasn’t like that, right?

“Flanding.”

Jumping out of his half-second reverie and half out of his skin, Marrow turned to find Hill and Marigold standing where they most certainly were not standing before.

“Where did you come from?!”

“Bigger men than you have asked,” Marigold answered with a smile that told Marrow he was getting no more detail than that.

“You can head on back,” Robyn said to her. “I can take this one.”

_Now, what’s that supposed to mean?_

Marrow kept an eye on Marigold as she shrugged and began to trudge back towards Mantle, while Robyn remained, folding her arms. With May out of earshot, he turned to Robyn. “Alright. Ma’am. What can I help you with?”

Assistance from Robyn Hill always came with a speech, long or short, to let any Atlesian Huntsmen know exactly how they had failed in their duties to such a degree that she had to step in. Marrow was well-practised in putting on a smile and letting someone talk at him for as long as they needed, and prepared to put that skill to use.

He ended up caught off-guard when Robyn said “Actually Wags, I think I can help _you_.”

Marrow squinted at her.

“I know, I’m surprised too.” She looked in the direction of Mantle, where her team waited for her at the wall, and where Jaune was talking to the local security officer. “But hey, it’s not like you’re Clover, right?”

 _Right_. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“And I’m Pumpkin Pete. Listen,” she sighed. “I don’t like getting involved in this kind of teen drama, but that was just painful. So tell me, what’s Blondie’s deal?”

A flush began to form on Marrow’s nape. “He’s a Huntsman, not officially part of the military—”

“Good for him.”

“— _yet_. He’s just as loyal to Atlas as any of us.” Marrow relaxed his jaw when he realised he had been gritting his teeth.

“I already know he’s one of Ironwood’s shiny new soldiers,” Robyn said, rolling her eyes. “I’m asking what’s his deal with _you_.”

“With me?”

“You know what I mean, kid.” Robyn sounded shockingly disinterested for someone who started this conversation.

“ _Actually,_ I don’t.” Was he _really_ discussing this with _Robyn Hill_ of all people?

“Oh, don’t you?” She raised an eyebrow. “Take my hand and say that.”

Marrow stared as she held her hand out. “I’m not gonna do that.”

“Why not?” Robyn was obviously amused now.

“I don’t know where it’s been.” Well _that_ was ruder than intended.

“It’s _been_ killing Grimm all night so Ironwood doesn’t have to. And since I have yet to receive a heartfelt _thank you_ for my assistance, I’ll settle for a friendly handshake.” She held her hand out further, a smirk playing on her lips.

Marrow groaned, looking between Robyn’s hand and the distant Jaune. He _had_ been going a bit crazy with the need to talk about this with someone. Not like Clover or Harriet would be particularly jazzed about talking about Marrow’s love life.

With a grimace, Marrow took Robyn’s hand in his own, and the soft white of her Semblance enveloped them.

Marrow had seen Robyn’s “I Just Got My Way” smile enough times to recognise it on her face now. It somehow made her _more_ intimidating.

“Okay,” she began. “You’re gay, right?”

Her grip tightened right as Marrow spluttered “That’s hardly professional.” The light around their hands turned green.

“Yup. So you are?”

“I mean, yeah.”

The green light persisted.

“Good, I knew there was hope for you,” Robyn said cheerfully. “And Banana-Bread over there? He gay?”

Marrow scratched his chin with his free hand. “I don’t think so.”

 _Green_.

“Bi?”

“I don’t know.”

 _Red_.

Robyn looked at him.

Marrow pouted. “Okay, yes, he is, I mean _look_ at him, but I don’t know if he knows.”

 _Green_.

Robyn shrugged. “I’m sure he’s figured it out, he seems like a smart guy.”

 _Red_.

Marrow glared at her. Robyn had the decency to look a bit embarrassed.

“This thing doesn’t always work.”

_Red._

“Moving on!” Robyn decided, able to take a hint from Marrow’s glowering. “So. You have a thing for him?”

 _Well, in for a penny_...

Marrow closed his eyes and took a steadying breath. “Yeah.”

The red light gave way back to the pleasant green.

Robyn gave him a look that was equal parts supportive and condescending. “Now, doesn’t it feel better to say it out loud?”

“No.”

_Red._

“Yes.”

 _Green_.

“You’ll get the hang of this whole truth thing at some point Wags, I know it can be a hard thing for a cop to grasp.”

Trying not to take that personally, Marrow looked at the green light. “Shouldn’t it have turned red?”

“You don’t really believe that.”

 _Green_.

Marrow waved his free hand awkwardly. “Uh, we don’t have time to get into that whole debate.”

 _Red_.

“Alright, fine, I just don’t want to.”

 _Green_.

“That’s fair, I think you’ve just about had enough of this,” Robyn said, nodding. “So we’ll make this the last question.”

Marrow braced himself. He had already told a local politician which of his co-workers he had a crush on _and_ all but explicitly said that he didn’t believe in the system he served. Why the fuck not tell one more stupidly personal thing to Miss Robyn Hill?

“Alright, shoot.”

“So, your buddy may be acting weird, but I can tell you from experience that when someone starts acting _that_ dumb, it’s not because they _don’t_ like you. He’s into you, kid.” 

Marrow couldn’t fight the small wave of giddiness he felt from seeing the green light endure at that statement. “You’ve been in my position before then? Had someone act dumb because they like you?”

“Hm?” Robyn furrowed her brow, before getting what he was saying. “Oh, yeah, of course.”

 _Red_.

The grin covered Marrow’s face before he even thought to stop it. Counter-embarrassing Robyn Hill was too good an opportunity to miss. “Oh my gods, _you_ were the moron!”

Her voice reached an octave that Marrow had previously believed was not available to her. “I was not!”

 _Red_.

“We’re not talking about me right now!” Robyn took a steadying breath. “Okay. You and your boy have got something going on. What are you gonna do about it?”

Oh wow. Marrow had genuinely not considered that part. He was planning to just ride out the _Haha, Just Kidding, Unless?_ Phase for as long as he could.

“Uhhhhh, nothing?”

Even if the red light hadn’t appeared to tell him that that was the wrong answer, Robyn’s face would have done the trick.

Marrow sucked air in between his teeth. “...Talk…to him?”

_Green._

Robyn gave a soft chuckle. “Oh thank the gods. My work here is done.”

She turned to leave and began to take her hand away, but Marrow held on.

“Wait.” He had to ask or it would drive him mad. “Why did you decide to help me with this? You hate the Atlas military and you barely know me.” The green light confirmed this as the truth.

Robyn looked him hard in the eye for a moment, before laughing. “Don’t overthink it Marrow, I don’t care that much. I just didn’t want to deal with any more bad flirting.”

She pulled her hand away as the light died, but not fast enough that Marrow didn’t see it turn red one last time.

* * *

Jaune finally found Marrow in the Huntsmen locker rooms. Way later at night than anyone _ever_ tended to be in there.

He was sitting on a bench with his back to the door when Jaune arrived. Marrow wasn’t wearing a shirt and his surprisingly long hair was down for the first time that Jaune had ever seen, almost reaching where his tail lay still.

He would have looked beautiful, if not for the burn that covered half of his back.

…scratch that. He still looked beautiful.

“Uh, hey.”

“Hey.” Marrow didn’t look at him, and based on the thickness in his voice, Jaune had a pretty good idea why.

“Mind if I join you?”

Marrow shrugged, then immediately winced, gripping his left shoulder where the burn was most severe. Jaune sat down on the adjacent side of the bench, figuring that if Marrow didn’t want to show his face right now then Jaune would respect that. So he looked at the wall.

“Do you...wanna talk about what happened today?”

“Why bother?” Marrow sounded more dejected than Jaune had ever heard him. “I’m sure Clover’s already told everyone in Atlas _exactly_ what happened.”

Jaune could only sigh at that. He wouldn’t insult Marrow with a lie. When Jaune reported back to Clover after the long, _long_ extermination mission that followed the election results, Clover had wasted little time in bringing up Marrow’s injuries.

_“Good to see you back in one piece. Not everyone was so lucky,” Clover said, signing off on Jaune’s mission report._

_All of Jaune’s friends had been in Mantle when the alarms blared and the screaming started, drowning out Jacques Schnee’s vile, smug voice mocking the city whose champion he had beaten. His blood ran cold. “Who got hurt?”_

_Clover was already scrolling through more reports of the night’s damages. “Marrow. Bit off more than he could chew with some Manticores, got a pretty bad burn for his trouble.”_

_His heart stopped. “Is he okay?!”_

_“Hm?” Clover seemed to have already forgotten what they were talking about. “Oh yeah, his Aura broke right before he got blasted, but once it regens he’ll be good as new.” He tapped at the screen. “Should be a good lesson for him, eh?”_

Jaune had called Ruby not long after, while searching for Marrow around the academy. She had been at Robyn’s victory party with Marrow, and Jaune wanted an account of the night that didn’t come from the sanitised mouth of the leader of the Ace-Ops. He had wanted to ask her about Marrow’s injury, but he was much more troubled by what she had to say about the party massacre.

_“It was Tyrian, Jaune.”_

Jaune had to admit to himself, as he removed his gauntlets, that he was glad Marrow had been up against an army of Grimm instead of fighting that madman. He gently brushed the soft, dark hair aside and placed his now bare hand on Marrow’s scorched shoulder blade, feeling him flinch. His skin was hot to touch.

“Can I?”

Marrow took a deep breath. “...Thanks.”

Focusing his Semblance, Jaune established the connection between their Auras, or rather, Jaune’s Aura and the alarming emptiness he felt in Marrow. He must have been _completely_ drained by the time he went down.

As ripples of white energy steadily spread across Marrow’s back, Jaune leaned forward just enough to see the side of Marrow’s face. He was panting.

Jaune swallowed. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“What’s there to talk about? I got my ass kicked by some Grimm. That’s all.” This kind of bitterness was unlike Marrow.

“I don’t mean just the Grimm. Ruby told me about the warehouse.”

Marrow looked even further off to the side, avoiding Jaune’s eyes. “I really fucked it up, Jaune.”

Jaune felt his heart sink at the defeat in Marrow’s voice. “It wasn’t your—”

“Save it,” Marrow cut across him, startling Jaune. “Ruby and Nora already told me that it _wasn’t my fault_.” He gave a short, humourless laugh. “Clover even made sure to tell me that everyone knows _I did my best_.”

“Marrow,” Jaune said, trying to sound stern. He could recognise _this_ particular train of thought before it even left the station. “There really was _nothing_ you could have done—”

“ _I’m an Ace-Op, Jaune._ ” Finally snapping, Marrow whirled around to look at him, breaking the Aura connection, and oh gods.

No one should look so beautiful in tears.

Jaune was rendered speechless by the look on Marrow’s face. Eyes bloodshot and cheeks wet, he looked nothing like the cool, confident Huntsman that Jaune had met on his first day in Atlas.

But he still looked like Marrow. And that was enough.

Propping his elbows on his knees, Marrow buried his face in his hands. “That’s supposed to mean something. But I guess I’m still just a...mascot.”

“Marrow—”

“You know it’s true!” Marrow sat back up, gesturing with his arms to an invisible crowd, before wincing at the aggravation of his burn. “Everybody does! I fill the fifth spot in the Ace-Ops, put on appearances, smile, wave, look pretty, and then push comes to shove and _I let everyone down!_ All those people died, and Penny was framed for it, all because I—”

“Marrow!” Jaune couldn’t let this spiral continue. “You’re an _incredible_ Huntsman, but this wasn’t an ordinary attack!”

“Jaune, you weren’t there, you don’t understand—”

“ _I don’t?!_ ” Jaune took a second to rein in his frustration. This wasn’t Marrow’s fault. “I’m sorry. I just...I really do understand.” With a gulp, he went on. “Tyrian...there was nothing you could have done. Believe me.”

Visions of Oniyuri swam before Jaune’s eyes, the way Tyrian had descended upon Team RNJR like a bird of prey, carving through them like they were nothing.

Marrow wiped his eyes and turned to look at Jaune properly. Jaune could only sigh when he saw the concern on his face, as if _Jaune_ was the one who needed looking after right now. At least the Aura boost had healed Marrow’s burn significantly. Jaune took his hand and re-established the link to accelerate the process. 

“He’s not some random bandit or murderer, he works for Salem.” Jaune noticed Marrow’s eyes widen. “I fought him once. Well, no, that’s generous. He attacked me and my team when we were travelling across Anima. We...couldn’t even touch him. All four of us, and not a scratch on him until Qrow showed up to bail us out.” He grimaced at the memory, the shame it brought.

Sniffling a bit, Marrow began to trace his thumb in circles on Jaune’s hand. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t.” Jaune smiled, and while he meant it to be reassuring, he knew it must have looked pained. “But, trust me when I say I know what you were doing with those Manticores tonight.”

_I’m starting to remember you._

“You felt like you failed. So, you picked a fight you knew you couldn’t win.”

 _You’re the dense one who can’t tell when he’s out of his league_.

“You were trying to make up for it.” Jaune shut his eyes tight for a moment, trying to kill memories of burning swords and maddening smirks. “But Marrow—” He took Marrow’s hand in both of his, maintaining the Aura connection even though the burn had all but faded. “—it really wasn’t your fault.”

_You’re not being fair to yourself, we love you._

Marrow looked into his eyes with an emotion Jaune couldn’t quite pin down. Is this how he had looked when Nora and Ren had found him at the statue?

_We don’t want to lose you too._

Jaune could feel his own tears forming. “Getting yourself killed isn’t gonna help anyone.”

It was a lesson that Jaune had struggled to learn. Throwing yourself recklessly into battle was a good way to ignore your pain, to feel less helpless. Jaune saw that feeling reflected in Marrow’s eyes like a mirror, the feeling of helplessness. It was a feeling Jaune knew well. 

He thought about Ruby, seconds from being poisoned or worse by Tyrian, while Jaune stood there and watched.

He thought about Weiss, gasping for breath, clinging to life, after Jaune had painted a target on her back for Cinder.

And he thought about the girl who had thrown him out of harm’s way, saving him from following her to an heroic death. The girl who, even after everything she did for him, thought that what Jaune wanted to hear at the end was—

“I’m sorry.”

Jaune almost physically recoiled from Marrow’s words. The familiarity hit him like a Goliath. If there had been any doubt in his heart, this erased it.

It was love then.

And it was love now.

He took Marrow’s face in his hands, and pulled him close, forehead to forehead. “Don’t be. I’m just glad you’re still here, now.”

“So am I.” Marrow’s voice was barely a whisper.

Jaune had only been kissed once before, but he knew the general technique. Well enough that Marrow didn’t pull away, anyway. Instead, he pulled Jaune in like a black hole.

It was only when Jaune found himself leaning in further to the intoxicating taste that he even realised what he was doing. With great effort, he broke away from Marrow, who gasped for air and stared.

Touching his own wet lips, Jaune panted. “I’m sorry, I—you’ve had a long night, I shouldn’t have—” He rose to his feet, and looked toward the door. “I’ll just—”

With speed that would make Harriet jealous, Marrow grabbed Jaune’s hand.

“No, Jaune, wait.” Marrow stood up to face Jaune at eye-level. Both pairs of bright blue eyes were wild with emotion, matching storms that were drawn to one another. “Please...”

A force much stronger than a mere Semblance laced Marrow’s next word.

“Stay.”

**Author's Note:**

> these two characters have never spoken. jaune gave him two cups of coffee. that's all it took to get me here.


End file.
